European Peach Scale: Appearance, Territory, Damage and Life

Latin name: Parthenolecanium persicae

Appearances: Females in their early adulthood are often yellowish with brown mottling or patterns, turning uniformly brown as they age. When young, the dorsum’s derm is membranous; as it ages, it sclerotizes slightly. two-sized dorsal setae Smaller, more blunt spines are sparsely distributed throughout the rest of the dorsum. Rather large, stout spines are present in a more or less double line medially anterior to anal plates, extending as far forward as the mouthparts. There are two different types of dorsal pores everywhere. Circular, medium-sized, rough-surfaced preopercular holes are located just anterior to the anal plates in a tiny, loose group of 20 to 26 pores. Absence of dorsal tubular ducts. Normal, big, and convex dorsal tubercles with a total of 24 to 42 around the submerging.

Host plants: The main host plants include the Japanese spindle tree, Japanese, common fig, golden bells, ash, Japanese silk tree, bird’s nest fern, sour orange, lemon, old man’s beard, quince, and persimmon.

Territory: P. persicae appears to only be found in vine-growing regions of the world, despite the fact that many of these regions do not always consider it to be economically significant.

Damage insect caused: Populations will eventually annihilate the host, especially ornamental shrubs, if their growth is not controlled. P. persicae produces honeydew because it is a sap-sucking plant that consumes phloem sap. The honeydew will become infected by sooty mold, and if this is on the leaves, it will reduce photosynthesis. This will be worse when young adult females are present and can cover every part of the plant underneath the infestation. Branch dieback on colonized trees will be the predominant symptom. Early senescence and leaf-fall will likely come before this on the majority of hosts.

Life cycle and habits: Male scales are tiny, flying, brown insects with two white threads trailing from their bodies and a long “tail” known as the style. Males are unlikely to be present. Nearly white in color, eggs resemble tiny pollen. In April and May, lecanium scales lay 1,000–5,000 eggs per egg. The body of the scale contracts against the outer skin as the eggs are placed to form a shield that resembles a helmet. In late May and early June, flat, pale crawlers make their way to the leaves where they begin to feed until the end of the summer. Crawlers are tiny and translucent yet have legs and antennae.